Life is Unpredictable

Life is Unpredictable

            We live our lives every day, not knowing what is going to happen next. We live each second in the moment, riding along the roller-coaster of life as it takes us up and down. To an extent we have control over situations, but essentially, there are too many outside forces that control what happens to us. However, we do have the ability to control how we react to life's curveballs and the attitude that we emit to the world and public eye. 

            Because we do not know what will happen next in our lives, we sometimes get lucky, we sometimes fail, and we sometimes succeed beyond measures. We prepare ourselves for obstacles by practicing and learning. We grow through our failures if we make changes after making poor decisions. We fail to grow if we believe in making the same mistake again or fail to realize something was a poor decision. Growing means that you are experiencing and then learning from those moments.

            We are going to fail. We are going to make poor decisions. We are going to live a life that is not perfect. What we must understand is that God does not need us to be perfect because He knows that nobody is. The more we strive to be perfect, the more we will not be. The more you try to be something you are not, the farther off the path you stray. If we admit to our flaws and accept our imperfections, we are illustrating a sign of maturity. If we can admit that we have failed and acknowledge that we will continue to educate ourselves and devote ourselves to growing, we will grow. If we fail to announce our flaws, then we will stay in a hallucinated, unrealistic world of thinking we are perfect and never changing. 

            Life is full of surprises and full of conflict. We will find ourselves in good situations and we will find ourselves in tough situations. The question that needs to be answered is, 'how can you learn from this and how can you become a better person, while helping those around you become better as well'. The first step in any situation is identifying if it is good or bad. Then, you must take initiative and analyze how the situation happened. Next, you must determine how to make the situation better. Finally, you must be able to tell yourself that the situation happened, and you must continue to live as the person you truly are, but know that changes need to be made to become a better person. We are always coming into new situations, new experiences, and new discoveries...so how can we not learn then? You will always learn if you are living. What separates those that learn more than others is that those who learn experience more, fail more, and live more, and are open to changing who they are for the benefit of not just themselves, but for the people around them. Those who are willing to change for someone are the ones you want to be with because they are illustrating their love and commitment, showing you that they will give up themselves and their lifestyle to meet you halfway.

            Life is unpredictable and we have to respect that. We are on a journey that will have both high and low moments, but we must realize that just because we may be in a low moment does not mean that life is worthless. I say this because a couple hours ago, life could have been at its highest for you, and a couple hours later, it could be at its lowest for you. But, does that low moment take all the good moments away...No, it does not. You cannot let one situation determine the end result for you or the direction in life you take. 

            If you truly want something in life you will not let a situation take that away from you. Life does not end for you when you make a mistake, so why give up on life? God gives you another day. God gives you another chance. God gives you your character and the person you are in strength, so that you can withstand the pain life has, but overcome the obstacles thrown at you if you care enough to do so.

            Nothing in life is what we expect, and life is unpredictable, but you must understand that it is all a test; A test to help you discover what and who you care about, the degree to which you care, and how devoted you are to learning, growing, and sharing the world with those who you care about.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Appreciation for Music

Appreciation for Music

The respect I have for music continues to rise to a new level. Nothing else in this world allows me to be alone and reflect on my life like music does. We all have our own outlet(s), whether good or bad that takes us away or clears our mind to think with clarity.

            Thinking with emotion and deep thought brings you into a different mindset that nobody knows about you. I even wonder where I go when music kicks in and I begin to focus. I just become inspired to the extent that anything I think about becomes my motivation. Without music, I would not be as motivated as I am today and as a result, I have acquired a great appreciation for all types of music and the impact it has on the lives of people it touches.

            Although music brings me to an emotional state, almost like a depressing setting in a sense, I am able to discover what is really important to me because what comes to my mind first tends to be what I care for most. I never plan on music reaching my senses so greatly, but when I start thinking, the engine begins to start and the wheels begin to turn.

            I am able to connect to my own life and realize what I am doing right, what I am doing wrong, and how I can grow to be a better person in all areas of life. Music, whether presented in the form of Rap or Gospel is telling a story of some sort and there is a reason behind it. Just like paintings, novels, essays, or poetry, music is a form of art that illustrates one’s emotions, mindset, and feelings at a given time.

            The late night motivation kicks in when the music plays, and the late night thoughts follow…Just another day to appreciate the life I am living.

            -Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

           

           

           

Living My Life

Living My Life

We wake up every day from whatever cause chooses to wake us. We go through our daily routines and then we are off-and-running. For myself, it is either to class or work. For everyone else, it is likely the same. We are all living the same life in terms of breathing, but we are all taking our own unique paths and choosing what we want to achieve each day.

I live my life and only my own because this is the only life that I am in control of. I strive to grow through personal development and to learn through my Faith in God and the guidance I receive from The Lord. I learn through experiencing and I learn through my failures and successes.

I have discovered that I learn best when I fail because if I succeed on my first attempt, it is either luck or a natural gift. Therefore, I did not have to work for the success, unless I had placed prior planning and organization into the work. Additionally, failures motivate us to change whatever it was that caused us to fail. We improve if we make changes. We cannot expect to grow unless we learn and we cannot learn unless we fail. That does not mean that we should focus on failing first and pushing it out of the way so that we can succeed, but rather, it means we should give every push of effort we have to ensure successful growth. I define growth as moving forward to become a better person in all areas of life, including the assistance a person gives to those around him or her.

When it comes down to living my own life, I strive to focus on my future goals and reflect on the decisions I make to evaluate how I am doing in my personal opinion. When we with others or competing for positions, we may want to make excuses or verify falsely, but I have realized that no matter what happens in one’s life, you cannot evaluate yourself based off another human being, no matter who they are. We are representing ourselves and the name we were given at birth. We are serving Our Lord and should be fortunate to see this world of extraordinary sights and sounds. When we are worried about failure, we should not be. When we are worried about those around us, we should not be. We should have full-on Faith in God and understand that life’s happenings’ are meant to be. We should not force anything upon ourselves or those around us.

Essentially, you should live your life and continue to work on what you want to do, while helping those around you become successful. You should not worry, stress, or fear. God has a plan and if He wants certain people in your life or wants you to go through certain situations, He will do what He deems is necessary for you to grow on Earth and spiritually in Christ.

Life has its mysteries and we are seeking to discover our individual purpose. We must place our Faith in God and trust His plan. No matter what is happening in your life, realize that you are growing while you are living. As long as you can say you have given all of your strength to be the best you can be when you put your head down at night, you have achieved a daily task. The plan God has for each of us is unimaginable, because it is too remarkable for our eyes and mind to comprehend. Place God in the center of your life and surround yourself with Faith and Trust. Live your life and only yours. Be who you are and let people think what they want of you.

It is smarter to be who you are and discover who respects you at the beginning than it is to be portraying a false you and discovering who does not respect you at the end.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Adapting to God's Plan

Adapting to God's Plan

Many pieces and memories of our lives that we hold onto today were not included in our original planning process for ourselves. With that, we must wonder how the plan deviated from our thinking. If we trust God and His amazing plan for us all, we will recognize that He sometimes takes out or adds experiences for a reason. The motive, we do not always know. However, God introduces us to the world and beyond in the eyes of Him and the world, not just our closed-minds. We have been told by our friends and family on what we will become, which could be true, but only God knows the end path for us. We have the ability to choose whether or not we want to follow His path and better ourselves and those around us. It is eye-opening to reflect on past situations and what they have taught us. It is remarkable to see the growth in ourselves. It is a proud moment to realize that you are doing what you love and you are surrounded by people who you love. I am continuing to live in the presence of The Lord and I am continuing to chase my dream. Blessed for He is by my side.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Learning Experience

Learning Experience

            As you enter your freshman year of college, you realize that you can start on a new slate and you can be whoever you choose to be. Usually, you will attempt to change and be someone other than you were in high school, but in the end your true character will unfold itself and trying to be someone other than yourself will not work to your advantage. When you leave high school, you leave your friends and past life in the back of your mind and begin focusing on your new journey. That journey begins with learning how to sign up for classes, knowing where your lectures are held, figuring out how to purchase food, and much more. However, the most important part of the journey is discovering who you are and discovering who your true friends are. In college, you will constantly come across new people and you will build relationships and make new connections with students from across the country and beyond.

            However, meeting hundreds and maybe even thousands of people will make you feel as if you are friends with everyone. You will have hundreds of phone numbers, followers on social media sites, and you will know the names of so many. But, if you sit back and think about which ones are your true friends, how do you know? Ask yourself the question, “If I were to leave college today, how many of the people that I met would contact me ever again to see how I am doing?” So, how do we know who our true friends are?

            Well, it is the ‘learning experience’ which enables you with the ability to clearly determine who will always be there for you. In college, we are learning a different life in a foreign environment. We are persistently learning fresh knowledge about life, relationships, academics, ourselves, and miscellaneous information that we will use to be successful. It takes messing up to not make a mistake again. Therefore, it takes experiencing to even have the chance of making a poor decision. So does this mean that we should all make poor decisions early in our lives so that we may have a wider understanding of how not to mess up? Yes and no. We should not aim to make non-intellectual decisions, but once you enter adulthood, any decision can affect your reputation and ability to acquire a job. Making one corrupt choice can cause your downfall when you reach an age where you are expected to never make poor judgments. For college students, the time is almost at its end to make poor decisions and still be able to bounce back in a reasonable amount of time.

            Essentially, the most important aspect of college besides attaining an education is to find yourself and to find who your true friends are. Secondly, it takes the ‘learning experience’ to realize who your true friends are and inside of the ‘learning experience’ consists of several things. First, you must mess up to find who your friends are. You will know when you messed up and learned something that will serve to better you when you wake up and think about who was there to help you. You must fail. Without failing, how do you know how it feels to be at a low-point in your life? You must also learn to adapt. If you cannot adapt to your surroundings, you will never grow. If you are not growing, you will fail to reach your highest potential. You will experience a lot in college and will learn an abundance of life-knowledge.

            In my perspective, you will learn more in one weekend than you will learn in a week in college. Academics are vital to your success, but life-skills and common sense, which is only attained through experiencing firsthand, is what enables you to accomplish the toughest of tasks. If you do not know who you are, then what purpose does academic knowledge have? It starts with YOU and discovering what YOU enjoy doing, what YOU want to do with YOUR life, and who YOU want to be. We are in college to learn and gain new knowledge, but we are also here for four years or more if we head to graduate school, to learn about the things we cannot be taught by a professor or by our parents.

            You will discover who your true friends are when you have a poor experience or make a poor decision because those who care about you will be by your side the entire time. You will have your friends. You will have your best buds. You will have your party friends. You will have your business friends. And you will have your lifelong friends. You place the people you know into different groups based on their importance and connection to you. Learning is endless. Find who you are and find who your true friends are. Learn to learn and live to learn.

 -Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

DEFINE WHO YOU ARE

 

DEFINE WHO YOU ARE

 

                Every day I hear the same things from students, “Austin, why do you want to write a book” or “why do you want to change the world, just let someone else do it.” I realized that people at my school were different than me, different in that they were not motivated to step up to society and make a difference. With my motivation and continuous urge to inspire my community, I decided to begin writing a novel. Many people will say you have plenty of years to do so or what's the point of writing a book or "look guys, Baker is going to try to write a book". I am writing this because I have a dream, a goal to inspire and motivate others. With that, I do not know how much time I will have on this Earth to make an impact, so I want to begin my life early.

                I do not want to wait until I graduate college to begin my job. I have found my passion, to make a difference on this planet. I have those who doubt me, doubt me constantly, but I am glad they do so because the ‘pessimistic population’ is my motivation. From the beginning of 4th grade at Hawk Ridge Elementary, I knew that I would become a difference maker when I grew up. I enjoyed socializing with everyone and I was not afraid to hear the opinions of my peers. I wanted to become the President of the United States. As a senior, I was elected as the Student Body President. I achieved my goal in a small perspective, but my goals changed. I felt that I was called to work in this world to motivate and inspire those who do not have much to look forward to. Of course, anyone can become a motivational writer or speaker or one who creates quotes to inspire society, but do they have the intentions of only helping others rather than themselves or the dream to one day have a world of inspired minds?

                I cannot truly tell you how much of a difference I will make in this world, but I guarantee you that I will make an impact. I have a goal of implementing a program into schools for the purpose of motivating and inspiring students who will WANT to succeed. I want to stop the constant bullying in schools and in society. What good does it do to make fun of others or cause them to give their life away because they believe they are worthless? We will always have our options of one another and we will always judge because that is just the human nature, but the only opinion that matters is that of The Lord. We are all equal, whether you want to agree or not. We all have something to offer. Just as a corporation works together by hiring employees with unique skills in order to succeed, our world can become a complete success if we all put in an effort to make it happen. I cannot do it alone. I will be talked about, laughed at, and waived off by some of my own friends, but it does not faze me. I have found a group of friends who I know will always be there to support me. They truly understand my intentions and my motives. They are aware and on board with the difference I will make in this world.

                I am confident that I will make an impact on this Earth, and I have multiple tasks that I will complete to do so. I am motivated, determined, and optimistic about what the future holds for me. I used to believe that grades were everything to life and that they would determine the person of whom I would become, but after the Rockbridge Young Life camp in the summer of 2013, I realized that I am on this Earth for a reason. I am here to do well. The Lord would not have placed me here to fail and serve as nothing. I am taking a different route that the common person in society would fear to take. If I fail and lose all of my money, I know that I will still be alive, I will still have a family, and most importantly, I will still have God. With that being said, I am not worried about what others say or think of me.

                My purpose is to use what I have learned and what I am still continuing to learn every day to help inspire society. If I continue to follow my plan and dreams, I will enable myself to achieve my ultimate dream; building a homeless shelter that will have personal teachers, psychologists, guest speakers, job placement coordinators, and a loving group of judge free people. My dream consists of more than this, but this is my overall plan. I do what I do because I was placed on this planet to make an impact. I have a vision and I have God; I will make a difference.

 

-Austin McClain Baker

 

Austin Baker

Twitter: @ABakerPresident

Email: DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

 

 

Dreams, Drive, Determination